Salvador Perez was held hitless in his first five at-bats of Tuesday’s American League Wild Card Game at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, but he smacked a walkoff RBI single down the left-field line in the 12th inning to give the Royals a 9-8 victory over the A’s.

Major League Baseball gave a five-game suspension to Manny Machado after he chucked his bat in the direction of A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson on June 8 at Camden Yards. Machado appealed that suspension immediately to remain active, and his case is finally going to be heard on Wednesday in Baltimore.

Between now and Opening Day, HardballTalk will take a look at each of baseball’s 30 teams, asking the key questions, the not-so-key questions, and generally breaking down their chances for the 2014 season. Next up: The Oakland Athletics. The Big Question: Is there life without Jarrod Parker? The A’s rotation has been a strength over…

Oakland added some bullpen depth by acquiring left-hander Fernando Abad from Washington for minor leaguer John Wooten. Abad mostly struggled for the Astros from 2010-2012, but pitched well for the Nationals this year with a 3.35 ERA and 32/10 K/BB ratio in 37 innings. He’ll likely slide into a middle relief role in Oakland, although…

Braves 2, Mets 1: A three-hour and fifty-two minute rain delay? Really? Despite that, Dillon Gee shut the Braves out through eight and a third and drove in the Mets’ only run. And despite that he gave up a walkoff two-run homer to Freddie Freeman just before 1:30 AM. Now they play a day-night doubleheader. Expect many…